House of Victory … a bold name
for a rehabilitation centre in northern Israel
By
Julia Fisher
House of Victory or "Beit
Nitzachon" (its name in Hebrew) is located in
Recently I visited
Beit Nitzachon with a group of Christians from the
As we toured the house we met and talked with the men living there. Some were
Jews, many from the former
“Paul wrote to the Corinthians that we need to be wise master builders (1 Corinthians 3). A wise builder establishes his spiritual house upon the rock (Matthew 7:24) through obedience. In order for our house to continue to stand for the duration of time we need to follow this truth. We need to be able to say as Elijah, ‘I have done everything according to your word.’
The step of faith it has taken to establish this work is for the glory of God. As a result the presence of God dwells in our house. This obviously separates us from any secular programme the government operates. Therefore when a man comes into our house he is immediately aware that we are different. This has a powerful impact upon those walking through our doors. The Holy Spirit’s presence acts as a restraint. Men whose lives were once out of control enter an environment they never imagined possible. Last year we received a Muslim into our programme. He had a violent past and spent years in prison yet today he is a new creation. There were times in the beginning when he became angry. He shouted at some of the students in the programme and even at the staff. However, he responded to our correction as we firmly spoke to him in love. Today the fruit of the Spirit is emerging in his life. What used to be a harsh character is now becoming gentler. A man who once did not experience love is now being changed by it.
It has been touching to see him develop friendships with some of the men in the house. One in particular is a former student, now a staff member named Sergei. I have witnessed these men reading the Word of God together, praying with each other and advancing the work projects in our house. It is a testimony of walls and barriers breaking down between ethnic groups. What a joy to hear men pray in Arabic for their Jewish brothers or in Hebrew or Russian for their Arab brother. These are daily occurrences in our midst.
Over the years we have been able to establish a pattern in our ministry that helps a man adapt to this strange, new and healthy environment. It is called a river of love. Jesus promised there would be flowing from within us rivers of living water. The Word of God in Romans 5:5 states that the Holy Spirit will pour out love in our hearts. Together these promises produce a river of love. As men begin to enter these waters the flow of the Spirit begins to take hold of their hearts. The old ways begin to pass away and the new comes.
If men are willing to follow this leading of the Spirit and to continue in the word of truth, freedom will enter their hearts. It is because of these promises a light shines upon each man in our house creating the hope for a new life.”
It was
from Beit Nitzachon that Kehilat HaCarmel (Carmel Assembly) emerged in 1991, a
Messianic congregation embracing Jewish believers and Arab Christians as well
as Christians from the nations. Here, inspired by the ‘one new man’, they
worship and pray together (often spending a night in prayer), and over the years have developed a number of initiatives to help the poor people
(Arabs and Jews) living in the villages on Mount Carmel and in
David Davis told me, “One of my greatest joys as a pastor is to witness once lost and
addicted Jewish and Arabic ‘sons’ take their place in the body of Messiah in
Israel. Graduates of House of Victory include our youth pastor, a home
group leader, and media ministry leader, as well as workers at House of Victory
and Beit Yedidia, our community centre. One Arab graduate is a fearless
preacher of the gospel to Muslims in
I asked Eric why he is prepared to invest so much time in helping drug addicts?
“One element of faith is perseverance. The concept of time is found in this word. The reality is that to change ones life a period of time is required. In our work we need to understand this principle! As we give ourselves to the men in the house, our time spent with them is an expression of love. The world says that time is money; we say that time spent together in Godly fellowship is transformation. The vision of being fruitful today and the hope of raising up an army of disciples for tomorrow sustains us in the midst of all the hardships we confront. To see men crossing over from death to life is a worthwhile investment of our time.”
I asked David
Davis, how the work of House of Victory relates to what God is doing
in
“The drug and
alcohol problem in
I asked
Eric Benson how Christians in the West can support this work.
“Believers throughout the world need to realize they have an important role in what happens in the Land. Scripture proclaims that what God does in this nation is for the sole purpose of glorifying His name throughout the world. Hence, at House of Victory we are making our humble contribution for the edification of the remnant in this land. It is from within this remnant that God’s name will be revealed as Holy to the ends of the earth. To be called together to participate in this miracle is awesome. We cannot accomplish this task alone. We need to strive together in this wonderful miracle.
We encourage you
to come and visit us whenever you are travelling in
Also financial assistance is critical! Today, the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. We need to increase the amount of staff workers on our team. The Word of God encourages us to raise up those amongst us. A sign of the fruit of our ministry is that most of our workers are former students. We need the testimony of these men to speak hope into the hearts of those being rescued from the streets. We need to be able to provide a salary for one or two of these faithful servants. Your help in this area would certainly enable us to advance God’s work in our midst.”
If you would like to send a
gift to House of Victory, then please send your donation to me Julia Fisher at
The Olive Tree Fund, PO Box 850, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 9GA. Cheques should
be made payable to The Olive Tree Fund.
The Olive Tree Fund is set
up to support the work of Messianic believers and Arab Christians living in
__________________________________________________________________________________
DAVID DAVIS is the Founder and Senior
Pastor of Kehilat HaCarmel (
For more information see www.carmel-assembly.org.il
JULIA FISHER is a writer and broadcaster. For more information see www.juliafisher.org
